1. Human presence can affect biodiversity in many ways. If
anthropization is one of the major drivers of species extinctions, at
the same time, human induced increase in environmental heterogeneity may
also increase species richness.
2. In many cases, however, heterogeneity is not enough to explain the
unexpectedly high biodiversity found in some densely populated areas.
3. A possible explanation to such situations is the partial overlap in
resource requirements between man and other species, which promotes a
tendency for humans to settle in sites characterised by environmental
conditions that are particularly favourable also for many other
organisms.
4. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the relationships between
human population and species richness of native (non-synanthropic)
tenebrionid beetles in the Mediterranean islands, many of which have
been inhabited by humans for millennia.
5. Using partial correlation analyses, we found that tenebrionid
diversity increased not only with island area and maximum elevation
(used herein as a measure of environmental heterogeneity), but also with
human population.
6. This may suggest that the islands that were (and are) more accessible
and hospitable to humans are also those which can be more easily
colonised by tenebrionids, owing to their larger areas and higher
environmental heterogeneity.

1. Human presence can affect biodiversity in many ways. If
anthropization is one of the major drivers of species extinctions, at
the same time, human induced increase in environmental heterogeneity may
also increase species richness.
2. In many cases, however, heterogeneity is not enough to explain the
unexpectedly high biodiversity found in some densely populated areas.
3. A possible explanation to such situations is the partial overlap in
resource requirements between man and other species, which promotes a
tendency for humans to settle in sites characterised by environmental
conditions that are particularly favourable also for many other
organisms.
4. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the relationships between
human population and species richness of native (non-synanthropic)
tenebrionid beetles in the Mediterranean islands, many of which have
been inhabited by humans for millennia.
5. Using partial correlation analyses, we found that tenebrionid
diversity increased not only with island area and maximum elevation
(used herein as a measure of environmental heterogeneity), but also with
human population.
6. This may suggest that the islands that were (and are) more accessible
and hospitable to humans are also those which can be more easily
colonised by tenebrionids, owing to their larger areas and higher
environmental heterogeneity.